Selling and Buying a Home

Real-life real estate advice, plus home decor, gardening and more.

Welcome to the Selling and Buying a Home blog.

My name is Leah Ingram, and, together with my husband, I’ve bought and sold eight homes in the past 20 years. One of those homes we built new.

My husband and I are also the DIY type. We’ve renovated nearly every home we’ve owned. This includes upgrading bathrooms, redoing a kitchen down to the studs and painting a home, top to bottom.

In addition to my personal experience as a homeowner, I’m a writer that has covered real estate for national publications.

For more than a decade I wrote about celebrity real estate, home-buying trends, money-saving tips for moving, curb appeal and more for NBC Universal and Parade Magazine.

Now I’m bringing my aspirational but authoritative and approachable take on selling and buying a home to my own blog. I’m going to share with you what works (and what doesn’t ) when selling a home as well as when you’re buying a home.

Rather than telling you what you want to hear, I’m going to tell you what you need to hear if you want to get a good price on a home you’re selling or buying. Basically, I’m going to cut through the BS and give you real-life, attainable advice that’s applicable to both buyers and sellers.

Finally, I’m also sharing advice on home decorating, maintenance and other topics related to home ownership. This includes how to fit an area rug under a bed or why you might want to paint an accent wall in your home.

However, this is hardly my only blog. I’ve been covering personal finance for nearly as long as I’ve been selling and buying homes. Once we were suddenly frugal. These days we’re real sophisticated consumers.

You’re welcome to read my other blog The Real Sophisticated Consumer here.

cleaner grill on the inside

How to Clean Your Grill

It’s a good idea to clean your grill on a regular basis. At the very least, you should either give it a good scrub down at the end of grilling season (such as in the fall) or when you’re ready to fire it up again…

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Desert Plants for a Drought Tolerant Garden

Choosing the right plants for your desert landscape can significantly conserve water and create a vibrant, low-maintenance oasis in your backyard. It may seem like a daunting task, but this guide aims to simplify it for you with these handpicked 10 of the best drought-tolerant…

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Gen Z Homeownership

Generation Z is pacing ahead for homeownership relative to other generations. This is despite the many hurdles they’ve faced, including: The COVID-19 pandemic Rising inflation A turbulent economy A recent Redfin study found that 30% of 25-year-olds owned their home in 2022 — more than…

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Stress of Buying a Home

If you’ve ever experienced the stress of buying a home, then you know home shopping may be hazardous to your mental health. In fact, a survey from Realtor.com reported that 23% of homebuyers said they scheduled extra therapy sessions to deal with the stress. Given…

Who am I?

I’m Leah Ingram, homeowner seven times over, author of 15 books and journalist, formerly covering real estate for NBC Universal and Parade Magazine.


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